The Little Baby Snake of the Vermilion Bird Family - Chapter 81

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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As she walked, the memories she had witnessed inside the belly of the Ghost Dragon resurfaced one by one.
Every single one of them was utterly horrific.
And while peeking into those memories, Baeksa could see and feel everything as vividly as if she were experiencing it firsthand.
Were the other people suffering because of the Ghost Dragon seeing and feeling the same things as her?
‘Is there any way I can ease their pain?’
Even if no one else knew, Baeksa knew.
The resentment of those dragons was deeper than a river and wider than an ocean; experiencing even a fraction of it would shatter anyone’s mind.
So, if possible, she wanted to prevent others from going through that. It was a thought she could only have because she had already endured it once before.
Right then, as if understanding Baeksa’s heart, the Bead floated gently into the air.
However, she could not use her Abnormal Ability. Siyeom had strictly warned her that she must not use it.
Baeksa followed where Doeui led, walking a lap around the streets.
During that time, she felt as though she might have brushed past Ju Jeokseo for a brief moment, but she could not see well because her eyes were halfway covered.
How many hours had they walked like that?
“That is enough. Let us head back,”
Doeui whispered.
Baeksa nodded.
***
The children returned straight to the Vermilion Bird Family Estate just as Siyeom had instructed.
A room she had prepared in advance was waiting for them there.
It was a place normally used as a warehouse, but since she had emptied and cleaned the inside, it felt more like a Detached Villa than a warehouse.
Siyeom sent Baeksa into the left side of the prepared room and Doeui into the right side.
Originally, it had been a single large warehouse, but thanks to the servants of the Vermilion Bird Family who had added wooden planks to erect a temporary wall last night, the space was divided into two.
“My dear, Yeon.”
Siyeom, who had followed Baeksa into the warehouse, gently cradled the child’s cheeks.
Then, as she pulled away the White Cloth that had been covering the girl’s eyes, she spoke.
“From here on, even I do not know. This is a task I have never attempted, and a path I have never walked.”
As Siyeom spoke, her voice carried a slight edge of tense anticipation.
“However, since Jangwangshin and the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast have said that you will do well, I believe you will find the way forward from this point on.”
She continued speaking rapidly.
“Doeui is right next door, so if any problem arises, he will help you. And keep this with you.”
Siyeom reached into her robes, pulled out the Fan she always carried, and placed it in Baeksa’s hands.
“Use it if anything happens. It will shield you from the power of ghosts and protect you.”
“Yes, Lady Siyeom.”
“You are not afraid, right?”
“No!”
Baeksa replied bravely.
At that, Siyeom smiled proudly and stroked Baeksa’s hair.
“Remember, you must never be afraid. Ghosts, contamination, and foul emotions wait for the moment you are at your weakest to burrow into your vulnerabilities.”
Her voice was low and firm.
“If you do not fear them, they will not be able to harm you either.”
“Do not worry. I will never be afraid.”
“Good. Still, if anything should happen, do not hesitate to call for me. Even if this is the method revealed by Jangwangshin, leaving you here alone makes me uneasy. The Divine Lord must feel the same way.”
Yet they could not stay together forever. Siyeom had her own duties to attend to.
Each of them had to faithfully fulfill their roles in their respective places to make this plan a success.
Even at this very moment, those afflicted by the ghost dragon were screaming in agony outside.
Furthermore, the thin lines left on their bodies were gradually splitting open. It meant the power of the Ghost Dragon fragments was growing stronger by the day.
If things were delayed any longer, those thin lines would tear and burst apart, severing the limbs of innocent people.
To prevent that tragedy, they had to hurry. Siyeom gave Baeksa’s hair one final pat before stepping out of the warehouse.
Left alone, Baeksa sat down and stared blankly at the Bead.
Perhaps sensing that she was in danger, Hwaryeong fluttered out and perched upon Baeksa’s knee.
“It is alright,”
Baeksa comforted herself.
Before she knew it, her hunger and starvation had grown even more severe. It seemed to be reacting to the fragments of the Ghost Dragon.
“It is alright…”
Just as she was soothing herself,
The closed door of the warehouse rattled, and soon, something resembling black smoke began to seep inside.
Baeksa instinctively recognized it as a fragment of the Ghost Dragon.
However, she felt a force and a resentment incomparably stronger than what she had experienced inside the belly of the Ghost Dragon before.
“It has grown so strong…!”
The shadows rushed into the warehouse in an instant, swirling rapidly around Baeksa.
Something akin to a black whirlwind enveloped Baeksa in the blink of an eye.
And before long, she heard ‘that voice’ once more.
‘A young dragon… It is a young dragon.’
‘With this flesh, we can be reborn.’
‘Young dragon, join… with us.’
The incomprehensible voices threw her mind into chaos.
At the same time, the memories of the Ghost Dragon began to flood into Baeksa’s head yet again.
‘No!’
If she accepted the memories like this, she would break down just like before.
She had to do something before that happened.
The moment Baeksa called upon the Bead, it flew into her hand as if it had been waiting.
‘Slowly…’
I can do this.
Because Jangwangshin said I could.
Thinking about it now, it was truly strange.
Until now, her own ability had been treated as a horrific supernatural power because it devoured anything and everything, yet it was finding a purpose like this.
If she had absorbed something other than Songra’s blessing back then, would the situation have been a little better?
But Baeksa quickly reached the conclusion that it would not have mattered.
No matter what use she possessed, the Emperor would have loathed and despised her just the same.
Therefore, dwelling on the past was doing herself no favors.
‘I must only think about what lies ahead.’
As she slowly channeled her Supernatural Ability, the Bead suddenly flared with a brilliant white light.
And in the next instant, Baeksa felt the tiny monster inside her body open its maw.
It was ravenous, possessing a mouth large enough to swallow absolutely anything.
So, all she had to do was absorb it like this.
But soon, she froze her hand.
‘Wait…’
She remembered the promise she had made to these souls while inside the belly of the Ghost Dragon.
‘Um, later, I promise I will come to help you.’
‘Really, I am still young and lacking right now so I cannot do it, but…’
She had promised. She had promised to help them later without fail.
But would absorbing them entirely like this truly be helping these ghost dragons?
Yet, considering the beast-kin suffering outside, she had to resolve this matter one way or another.
‘But, all of them…’
They were all someone’s victims.
At least, that was the case in the memories Baeksa had seen.
Most of the dragons trapped inside were the souls of dragons who had been betrayed or murdered by someone.
Those grievances had coalesced to be reborn as a entity holding immense malice: the Ghost Dragon.
In that case, could she not just absorb the malice alone?
There was a saying among the dragon clan.
When a dragon dies, its physical body is buried in the earth, and its soul returns to the heavens to be inscribed in the celestial registry.
They called that Ascension.
Could she not aid in the Ascension of these dragons?
By stripping away the malice and absorbing only the bad memories…
The child carefully tried using her Supernatural Ability once more.
When she closed her eyes and activated her power, the things she needed to absorb suddenly appeared before her as two separate threads.
A white thread and a black thread—the two were thrashing wildly before Baeksa’s eyes.
When she lightly touched the white thread, she felt the pure soul hidden within it tremble and resonate.
Next, when she gently brushed the black thread, she felt an energy identical to the contamination she had been absorbing until now surge violently.
Between those two energies, the girl knew exactly which one she had to absorb.
“Can I keep my promise?”
The child murmured as she unleashed her power, and in an instant, a dark aura bloomed like flower petals beneath Baeksa’s feet.
“I will try my best…”
And like a massive lotus flower, it blossomed while wrapping around her tiny frame.
Suddenly, a magnificent light erupted inside the warehouse.
Baeksa felt the black threads continuously pouring into her.
The more she absorbed them, the more her hunger subsided.
A gentle breeze stirred by her power softly tickled Baeksa’s hair.
Her hair, which had turned half-white and half-black, fluttered softly as it slowly began to dye completely black.
***
Outside the warehouse.
Ju Jeokseo, who had been watching the building with an anxious heart, spotted something bizarre.
“That is…!”
Above the warehouse, a cluster of white light was gathering to form a distinct shape.
It took the shape of a white lotus at first, but soon elongated, transforming into the silhouette of a White Dragon with a colossal body.
The White Dragon of legend.
It was the exact moment that magnificent being revealed itself in the skies of Namto for the very first time.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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